Dr. Susan VandeWoude

At-Large Director, Region I (U.S., Mexico, & Caribbean) (Term: 2025-2027)

Dr. Sue VandeWoude is the Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Colorado State University (CSU). She also holds the title of University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology at CSU.  Dr. VandeWoude is a veterinary virologist recognized for her research on the biology, pathogenesis, and ecology of viral infections in felids. Her laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding cross-species transmission of feline viruses, including Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FLV), as well as the role of host resistance in disease outcomes.

Dr. VandeWoude earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology and her doctorate in veterinary medicine at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, after which she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Comparative Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) and has held numerous leadership roles in laboratory animal science and comparative medicine, including serving as President of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, American Society of Laboratory Animal Practioners, and as Veterinary Virology Councilor in the American Society for Virology.

Prior to becoming dean, she served as Director of CSU’s Laboratory Animal Resources and Comparative Medicine Training Program, Associate Dean for Research, and One Health Institute Director. Dr. VandeWoude is an advocate for veterinary involvement in research, and in collaborative, team-based multidisciplinary science. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2019, and has served on multiple expert panels, study sections, and as a leader in professional organizations supporting veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences. In 2022, she became the 11^th Dean of CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and is the first woman to hold this position. In her spare time, she likes to bike ride, raises domestic heritage breed turkeys, and, in a violation of best practices at the wildlife-domestic interface, admires the wild turkeys that come to visit the domestics.